


Smart Bunny, Naïve Fox

by orphan_account



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Thematic Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 12:36:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10876929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Entry for /ztg/ Thematic Thursday #22; Opposite DayA retelling of one particular day in Zootopia where Nick and Judy have switched places! Why you ask? Because I couldn't get anything else out of this theme.





	Smart Bunny, Naïve Fox

There were not many positive things you could say about the Grand Pangolin Arms. In fact the hotel’s many charming luxury apartments were completely unremarkable, and little could be said about them other than that they had greasy walls, rickety beds and crazy neighbours. 

However, one thing they had going for them was that they in close proximity to the ZPD’s downtown station. 

It was a fact well appreciated by a certain fox, who found himself staring over the city, still asleep but slowly waking up as the sun crept leisurely over the horizon. As the first rays of light filtered into the apartment, he pressed the alarm button of his electronic clock, which started beeping as its numbers flashed over to 5:30. 

He’d already been awake for half an hour –having gone for a quick jog in the brisk dawn air, a wash in the hotel’s showers that ranged from freezing cold to boiling hot, and hastily gotten himself dressed, mix matching the buttons on his police shirt several times. 

His fumbling paws were for good reason. 

First fox in his family to move away from the Denlands to Zootopia…anywhere really.

First fox in the Zootopia Police Force.

First fox with so much expectation bared across his shoulders. 

‘Don’t screw it up Nick’ He thought as he looked himself in the mirror, polishing his badge with the back of his paw as it reflected in the golden sunlight. A smile full of pearly teeth grew across his face as his body trembled and tail swished with excitement. 

He sprinted to the door, grabbing his keys, wallet, and hesitating for a second as he glimpsed at the small PRED-DEFENCE canister atop the cabinet. A ‘safety package’ given by his mother at the bus stop a few days ago, petrified by the idea of her only son living nearly three hundred kilometres away, and in a city where nearly ninety per-cent of the population was prey –a demographic who…didn’t hold the most courtesy back in the Denlands. 

Regardless, he left without it. 

It was not a few seconds later when he ran back inside and grabbed the canister, sliding it into his belt’s empty pepper-spray holder. 

The headquarters stood as an unyielding building symbolising bravery, integrity and the deep founded trust it had earned. The fox felt a sense of pride wash over him as he strode through the glass doors. The station was abuzz with activity, dozens of uniformed officers, detectives and civilians flooded its wide-open floors, and Nick felt a slither of anxiety rise at the back of his neck. 

He came up to the front desk, manned by a portly cheetah chewing away on cereal. “Excuse me?” Nick called out.

The cheetah looked around, confused. 

“Down here!” Nick repeated, louder this time. As the cheetah leaned over the desk, Nick gave a friendly smile and wave along with an enthusiastic “Hi!” 

“Oh-M-Goodness. They really did hire a fox.” For a split second, Nick felt his tail swish with much more malicious movements. 

He quickly calmed himself, as to not break his placid demeanour. “Yes they really did.” He retorted. “And while I’d love to talk about it with you, I should really be getting to role call so which way should I-

“Oh, bullpen’s over there to the left.” 

“Great, thank you!” Nick said as he walked over to the bullpen. 

In his stride Nick failed to hear Clawhauser muse “Oh you’re in too big a forest little fox.” Nor did he pay any mind to the glances his ruby-red coat was attracting from his fellow officers. 

Upon opening the bullpen’s door, which was easy enough despite it being three times his height, Nick saw how the room was full of officers, varying from predator to prey, male to female, but all shared the distinct similarity of being far taller than him. 

Nick attempted to maintain his confident –borderline cocky stride until he jumped in fright at the arm wrestling of a lion and polar bear, that latter of who emerged the victor. 

He sat in a vacant chair row next to a rhino, tigress and wolf –all towering over his wiry fox frame. At first he thought it would be a good idea to introduce himself; maybe throw in a little banter for good measure. But upon his affable gaze meeting with the blunt, almost stone-like one of the rhino, he decided it would be best to keep quiet –for now. 

Higgens, a Hippo at the front of the bullpen, yelled out “A-ten Hut!” He had a voice that command respect and attention, which the room gave. ‘Must be the captain’ Nick thought to himself. This idea was dissolved when a colossal cape-water buffalo, Bogo going off of his nametag, whose very aura commanded tenfold that of Higgens’, entered the room. ‘Oh. He’s the captain.’ 

The room erupted into a primal chorus of chanting, slamming hoof and paw against table top, and enthusiastic howling. 

“Alright, alright! Everybody sit.” Nick, and the rest of the room, did as they were told, albeit he was already standing atop the chair. 

“I’ve got three items on the docket.

First, we need to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Francine,” All eyes turn to the elephant in the room. Nick felt a tension overcome the bullpen, if not the whole station. “Happy birthday.” Bogo continued. 

The tension evaporated and blossomed into happiness and congratulations, as Francine’s fellow officers clapped in congratulations and playfully socked her in the side. Nick clapped for his fellow officer too, until he became concerned for the tiger Francine had managed to get into a headlock. 

“Number two, there are some recruits with us I should introduce.” Nick faced the front, pridefully puffing out his chest like some tropical bird putting on a display. ‘Time to introduce myself’ He thought, barely able to contain his excitement as his tail waged from side to side. 

“But I’m not going to because, I don’t care.” Oh…ok then. 

“Finally,” Bogo donned a more serious expression as he grasped the rostrum and pointed towards a city map hanging on the wall behind him, pictures of numerous predators pined onto it in varying locations. “We have fourteen missing mammal cases. All predators, from a giant polar bear to a tinsy little otter! 

And city hall is right up my tail to find them! This is priority number one.” Bogo took a stack of red dossiers handed to him by Higgens. 

“Assignments; officers Grizzoli, Fangmyer, Delgato your teams take missing mammals from the Rainforest District.” Several of Nick’s fellow officers left around him, taking a red dossier from Bogo as they left the room. 

“Officers McHorn, Rhinovitz, Wolfred, your teams take Sahara Square.” A few less officers were left sitting down, one less dossier was left in Bogo’s hoof.

“Officers Higgens, Snarlloff, Trunkeby. Tundratown.” 

The last of the officers left, leaving just Nick, Bogo and a single remaining dossier. “And finally, our first fox…Officer Wilde.” Despite the potential gravity of the situation, Nick couldn’t help but let his tail wag, his breathing increase and a smile grow on his face. It was his first day on the force and he’d already been given his very first case, and an important one to boot! 

Bogo took a breath before he continued. 

The anticipation was killing Nick. Here it comes, the moment he’s been waiting for. 

His first ever case! 

‘Just spit it out Bogo and let me get out there!’ His conscious screamed. 

“Parking duty.” 

And with that, the train crashed, the dancers fell and the orchestra played horribly out of tune. 

Nick just sat in his chair for a few seconds, stunned. “Parking duty…” He idly mumbled to himself. 

As the buffalo made his way to the door the fox jumped off of his chair and called out to him. “Umm, Cheif? Chief Bogo?” The Buffalo turned, putting on his glasses as he looked down on the fox. “Sir, you said there were fourteen missing mammal cases?” 

“So?” He replied bluntly. 

Nick’s tongue was quick to jump at a response. “Well I can handle one. You probably forgot, but I was top of my class at the academy.” 

“Didn’t forget, just don’t care.”

“Well sir I’m not just some token fox.” 

“Well then writing a hundred tickets a day should be easy.” And with that, the buffalo turned around, left the room and slammed the door. Alone with his thoughts, Nick wondered if it was at all smart to question the judgement of a superior in such a manner. 

Regardless, he was still stuck with parking duty. 

Feeling quite annoyed and a little irate, Nick found a small growl boiling in his throat, and it wasn’t long before he let loose a few, spontaneous geks. “A hundred tickets…” he cursed to himself softly “Who does he think he is?

We’ll he’s your captain that’s who he is Nick.” He told himself as he paced up and down, paws on his hips. “You know what? 

I’m going to write two hundred tickets!” Nick looked back to where Bogo was before, and with determination, he yelled out “Before noon!”

It was still true that Nick found it a bit degrading to have his first day on the job relegated to parking duty. He felt even more humiliation when he was forced to put on the undersized fluorescent vest and bowler’s cap. All this did, however, was fuel his determination to prove them all wrong and get to that two hundred-ticket milestone –before noon, of course. 

He drove down the busy streets where droves of parked cars choked either lane in his generously provided meter-maid ‘Jokemobil’, a ridiculous looking tricycle-car that had a frame covered in flashing lights and sirens, and seemed to have been built with mammals of a much smaller build in mind, Nick’s head less than an inch from hitting the roof. 

The day started had off slow, and Nick wondered if he’d even make it past fifty tickets as his watched ticked past 9:30. However, when his ears detected a distinct electronic tone, he brought his car to a stop just as a parking meter behind him expired. A satisfied grin grew across his face. 

Nick got to work quickly, parking in front of the offending car and typing out his first ticket. He’d just slipped it underneath the window wiper when he heard another parking meter expire on the other side of the road. This was followed by another, and another, and another. His grin of satisfaction turned into an excited smile. 

Two hundred suddenly didn’t look like such a big number. 

He darted atop bonnets, climbed up doors and even used one car’s window wiper to catapult himself onto another. At times when he needed to cover great distances he found himself sprinting across the tarmac and footpaths on all fours. With every that passed by the number on his ticket machine grew ever higher. 

As the minutes ticked closer to twelve Nick made his way towards the tricycle-car, only 199 tickets to his name. His ears continuously swivelled in tandem with his eyes surveying their surroundings. He just needed one more car…just one more mammal who might be running a bit late from work…just one more chance to prove himself. 

Like a gift bestowed upon him from the heavens, his ears picked up the close sound of a parking meter just running out. ‘That came from behind me’ Nick thought as he turned around, face to face –or rather face to fascia, with a Girafferrari, its window wiper looming high above the fox. “Okay…this might be a bit tricky. 

I can work with that.” 

He took a few steps back, and noticed how the lampposts running down the street had leaf castings welded onto them, and appeared like they would make for an effective ladder. Psyching himself, he climbed up the lamppost, using each leaf until as a rung until he was at the very top. A gush of wind nearly blew him off like an autumn leaf, so he quickly leaned over and placed a ticket underneath the window wiper, shimmying down the lamppost and jumping off onto the ground

 

He glanced to a nearby street clock, its minute hand striking five to twelve. Nick looked down on his ticket machine, a great surge of pride and achievement running up his body at the ‘200’ displayed across its electronic screen. 

“Boom! Two hundred tickets before noon!” Nick relished in the moment, giving an invisible audience a boastful bow. “And a thank you ladies and gentlemammals.” He recoiled however, at the sound of a ticket machine going off right next to him: the one for his own parking spot. He shrugged and wrote up himself a ticket “Two hundred and one.” 

Humbled by his achievement, Nick was caught off guard by the sound of screeching tires and blaring truck horn. He looked over at the commotion and saw a rabbit narrowly miss a truck exciting an alleyway. “Watch where you’re going rabbit!” The ram driver yelled out. 

In response to the ram’s antagonism, the bunny, a doe wearing a green Pawaian shirt wrapped up in a knot and a tight pair of denim shorts, simply turned around and shouted “Get your eyes checked lamb chop!” along with throwing quite vulgar paw gestures in the truck’s direction. 

He continued watching the rabbit, his ears twitching instinctively, as she walked down the footpath, stopping in front of an ice cream parlour. She looked side to side, and Nick couldn’t help but feel an air of suspicion about her. He kneelt down besides the Jokemobil, all of his attention focused on the doe. He couldn’t put a digit on it, but something about her didn’t sit right with him.

The doe closely followed an elephant inside, and Nick gave into his doubts that the rabbit was up to anything good, hastily making his way across the road and taking a careful peek inside, bewildered when the rabbit was no where to be found. 

“Wh- where’d she go?” He softly asked himself as he stood back from the window. While a part of him reasoned that it was probably nothing and he should go back to writing tickets, another, deeper, part of him reasoned that whatever the rabbit was doing warranted further investigation, and so he went inside. 

The parlour was for mammals of a large, comparably titanic, variety. What a rabbit wanted to do with this place evaded Nick. Surely, not to cause trouble? It wasn’t the Denlands after all. There was a line of elephants and hippos all the way to the door. ‘Popular place’ Nick thought as he spotted the rabbit at the front of the line, having an attritional discussion with the elephant behind the counter.

“Listen,” the elephant spoke with an noticalbe degree of irritation “I don’t know what ya doin’ skulkn’ around where your shoes are too small, but I don’t want any trouble in here.” Hackles raised, Nick unbuttoned the PRED-DEFENCE on his belt and closed in, ready to draw it at the first sign of trouble. “So hit the road!”

“I’m not looking for any trouble either sir,” The rabbit responded, her voice earnest and bubbly –sharply contrasting her behaviour Nick observed not five minutes before “I simply, want to buy a jumbo pop, for my little boy.” 

From a portion of Nick’s vision previously blocked, a small fennec fox emerged into view next to the doe. He looked like a kit by his size, the purple elephant onezee and the ruby red dummy in his snout. He looked right at Nick, stopping the fox in his tracks. 

The doe leaned down so she was almost face to face with the tan kit. “You want the red or the blue pal?” She spoke in a caring, motherly voice. 

A sense of shame washed over him, and Nick qucikly re-buttoned his belt’s pepper spray holster and turned to leave the parlour, mumbling “I’m such a…” to himself as he adjusted his vest. He couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence out loud. 

He was about to walk out the door when the elephant spoke up. “Whoa, whoa come on kid, back up.

Listen lady, what, there aren’t any rabbit ice cream joints in your part of town?” At this Nick’s ears perked and he stared back at the towering elephant with a look of disgust on his face. 

“Oh no, there are, there are. It’s just my boy, this goofy little stinker,” she ruffles the top of the kit’s head as he stands next to his mother before putting on the elephant ears and fake trunk hoodie of his onezee “loves all things elephant, wants to be one when he grows up.” The kit blows on some kind of trumpet in the trunk and lets out a cute, high-pitched Toooot! “Isn’t that adorable?” The doe continued. 

It was indeed adorable, and Nick placed a paw over his chest as he let out a sympathetic “Aww.”

“Who the heck am I to crush his little dreams?” The kit rests his head against his mother’s hip. “Right?” 

The sympathy Nick held for the doe and kit, was not mutual with the elephant. “Listen it’s probably a bit difficult for you to read rabbit, but the sign says WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE TO ANYONE!” He grabbed a small sign and with every word his presence over the doe became more looming and menacing. 

“So beat it!” He gestured to the door with his trunk. 

“You’re holding up the line.” An impatient customer behind the doe remarked as he pushed his way into her. 

At this the little kit began to cry, his trunk producing much more distressing and sorrowful toots. Nick knew that, be he on parking duty or not, he had to do the right thing and intervene. “Hello, excuse me.” He called out as he approached the counter. 

“Hey you’re going to have to wait your turn like everyone else, meter maid.” ‘Oh hardy har har fella’ Nick thought to himself, but he didn’t let it show. 

“Actually, I’m an officer” Nick flashed his badge, and the elephant looked like he had suddenly developed some regrets about what he just said. 

“Just had a quick question.” Nick continued, “I was just wondering if the secret to this place’s success was the fact that your customers are getting the great deal of some snot and mucus along with their cookies and cream?” He made to say that last part just a tad bit louder for theatrics. It worked, with one elephant sneezing a mouthful of ice cream all over his partner. 

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh I suppose its nothing sir, I really don’t want to cause you or your employees any trouble, but I do believe scooping ice cream with an un-gloved trunk is a class three health code violation.” The elephant at the counter looked back to one of his employees, their trunk wrapped around a gargantuan ball of ice cream, un-gloved and bare for all to see. He promptly dropped the ice cream back into its freezer and wiped his trunk on his apron, going out back. 

“Which is kind of a big deal.” Nick went on. The elephant looked back at him, his face boiling with anger, shock and embarrassment. “Now I could let you off with a warning if you were to glove those trunks and I don’t know…maybe do your job and finish selling this nice mother and her son a…” He leans down to the doe “What was it?” 

“A jumbo pop, please?” The doe responded gracefully. 

“Yes, a jumbo pop.” Toot went the kit

The elephant sighed and rolled his eyes “Fifteen dollars.” He begrudgingly said. 

“Thank you so much.” The doe then looked up to Nick “Thank you,” She fished around her short’s wallets and slowly her expression dulled and her ears drooped. “Oh no, are you kidding me. I don’t have my purse.” She solemnly laughed before sighing deeply “I’d loose my head if it weren’t attached to my neck -that’s the truth.”

She kneeled next to her kit and held his head in her paws. “Oh sorry hun, got to be about the worst birthday ever huh?” Nick was surprised, and this only added to his sympathy “Don’t be mad at me.” She kissed the kit’s forehead and led him out, who pointed to the display jumbo pops for a few seconds but eventually gave up, deflated and defeated. “Thanks anyway.” The doe said as she passed Nick.

Nick looked at the kit, then to his doe mother, her regret and weariness palpable. In an instant, he forgot about her behaviour before and saw her for what he thought she was: a mother doing good for her kids. 

He slammed a twenty buck bill against the counter. “Keep the change.” 

The trio left the parlour in much higher spirits, the Nick carrying the jumbo pop while the doe held open the door for him, the kit skipping and tooting to his heart’s content. “Officer, I can’t thank you enough, so kind. Can I pay you back?” She asked insistently. 

“Oh no ma’am, I’m just doing my job.” Nick stoped walking as the doe did the same. “You know it just burns me up that there are some –just some folks with such backwards attitudes towards you rabbits. 

I just want you to know that you’re a great mother and a real, intuitive, lady.” 

“Oh, well that is high praise. Its rare that I find someone so non-patronizing.” 

The doe seemed to reply to Nick in such a genuine and amiable manner that the fox felt himself blush a bit. Thank god he had a red coat. “Officer?” The doe asked.

“Wilde. Missus?”

“Hopps, Judy Hopps.” 

“And you little fella,” Nick bent over so he could speak closer to the little kit but still kept a grip on the massive popsicle. “If you want to be an elephant, then you be an elephant. 

Because this is Zootopia, where anyone can be anything.” Nick felt a little corny saying the city’s slogan that had been repeated so many times over the years that it had defined passé. 

The fashionability of what he’d just said was lost on the little fennec fox, who just smiled and gave Nick a toot. “Oh that’s so right, I tell him that all the time.” Judy said with a smile. 

“Can he take this or should I pass it to you?”

“Oh he’s a lot stronger than he looks. Alright two paws.” She said to the kit, who catches the popsicle as Nick gave it to him, and manages to balance it without any struggle, much to the larger fox’s surprise. “Oh would you look at that, that’s a happy birthday smile.” Judy continued, bending over to talk face to face with her kit. “Alright, now give nice officer Wilde a little bye-bye toot-toot.” Toot toot! the kit happily went. 

“Toot toot.” Nick playfully imitated as he walked away. 

“Bye now.” Judy waved as she and the kit went off in the other direction.

“Goodbye.” Nick called as he buoyantly went back to his tricycle-car. 

It seemed that after that little encounter, the citizens of Zootopia improved their parking etiquette tenfold, as Nick had only managed to pick up another sixty two tickets after two hours of buzzing around the city’s numerous districts. 

But Nick was by no means disheartened, if anything; his spirits had risen higher than before.

Sure, it was a little bit of a downer to be stuck on parking duty for his first day, and it’d likely remain that way for the next few weeks knowing how most constables entered the field. But seeing the smile on that kit’s face and the gratitude of Judy was enough to keep him on high spirits for however long he’d been buzzing around and writing up tickets. 

As he wrote up a red dune buggy for not only an expired meter, but for also double parking against a mouse mini-van and taking up half a disable park (the unholy-trifecta, as Nick liked to call it), he wiped his forehead and panted as Sahara’s sun beamed down on him. “Gosh, this heat’s killn’ me.” 

It was during this short rest that he noticed in the windscreen a reflection of a particular fennec fox kit. 

“Oh, hey little toot too…” Nick trailed off as he saw the kit push a large jar beneath a drainpipe that was pouring out with a red liquid. Following the pipe up, Nick was surprised to see Judy melting the jumbo pop over the roof tiles, knocking the last piece of ice off the popsicle stick and sliding down the tiles and the pipe to land effortlessly on the floor, picking up the jars and loading them into the back of a dingy old van. 

Nick’s dumbfounded brain attempted to put reason as to what he’d just seen. It actually made a tad of sense the more he thought about it; the kit would never be able to have that jumbo pop all on their own, and if they were having their birthday today, it’d actually be a smart idea to melt it down for the party. 

He’d almost convinced himself of the theory, but his reasoning was thrown out the window when he saw the van drive past –with the kit in the driver’s seat! 

Nick resolved to follow the doe and her ‘kit’, the pair obviously not as genuine as they seemed. Eventually he tracked them to one of Tundra Town’s many lakes that had frozen over for the winter cycle, covered in a thick blanket of snow. As the fennec fox made paw prints and tiny popsicle stick imprints in the snow, the doe poured the jumbo pop mixture into each imprint as if they were a mould. 

Their next stop was 6904 Chiroptera Street, the beating heart of Zootopia’s foreign stock-exchange district. Dragging a large ice cooler behind her, Judy waited out front of the Lemming Brother’s Bank, where as the street clock struck 12:25, the closing of the Arvicolinae stock-exchange, a long stream of lemmings emerged from the bank. 

At her cue Judy called out “Popsicles, get your popsicles here!” holding a particularly large and enticing variable in her paw. It only took a single lemming to notice before the whole train began to follow. 

Judy soon found herself with a steady flow of cash as the lemmings took the popsicles, payed and deposited the used sticks into a recycling bin. All the while Nick found himself with a steady feeling of astonishment at the rabbit’s gall. 

As the last lemming disappeared behind the corner, the side of the recycling bin’s opened up, with the fennec fox pulling a few cartload’s of popsicles towards their orange van. ‘Oh now what are you two up to now?’ Nick asked himself as the van began to pull away. 

He later found the pair near Little Rodentia, toting around in hard hats at a construction site for a new block of mice flats. Nick laid down low in a thicket of roses and pantelions overlooking the construction site, just close enough so he could overhear the rabbit talk to the foremammal. The fennec fox was still wearing his elephant onezee. ‘At least you’re a dedicated method actor’ thought Nick. 

“Lumber delivery!” The rabbit proclaimed as she placed several neatly organised stacks of ‘lumber’ at the mouse’s feet. 

“What’s with the colour?” 

“The colour…umm…it’s redwood.” The rabbit could think on her feet, as fast as any fox Nick knew. As the idea of that being what she did when she saw Nick enter the parlour, heck she might have seen him when he was peering at her across the street, made the fox seethe with anger and gek. 

The rabbit and fennec fox split the rewards of the hard day’s labour in the alleyway of a quiet market street. 

“38, 39, 40. There you go.” Judy handed the last of the split to Finnick, her little partner in crime. “Way to rock that diaper big guy.” Without a word Finnick turned around, got his onezee off and jumped up into his van. “Hey, no bye-bye kiss for mommy?” Judy sneered smugly.

Finnick spat out the dummy and looked her dead in the eye. “If you kiss me tomorrow, I’ll bite your face off!” He spoke in a rough, deep voice that would have given their charade away in a heartbeat. He started up the van “Chow.” Judy watched the van drove off in a plume of smoke and dust, blaring some Sambarish music, revealing Nick standing directly her opposite.

“Well,” He caught Judy’s attention “I stood up for you, and you lied to me. You liar!” Nick lost his composure for a second as he pointed at Judy in an accusing manner, the rabbit unfazed.

“It’s called a hustle, hot stuff. And I didn’t lie to you, he did!” Judy pointed to her right, but there was no one there. When Nick looked back to her she had run off around the corner of the building. 

“Hey!” Nick yelled as he pursued the surprisingly fast bunny. He caught up to her walking along idly chewing on her popsicle stick. “Alright carrots, you’re under arrest!”

“Really? For what?”

“Oh gee I don’t know, let me think. How about selling food without a permit, transporting undeclared commerce across federal lines. Can’t forget false advertising.” 

From the back pockets of her shorts the rabbit produced several documents, and held them right in front of Nick’s snout. “Permit, receipt of declared commerce, and I didn’t falsely advertise anything, good day to you sir.” They came to a crossing, waiting for the little figure on the street light above to turn green. 

“You told that mouse that those popsicle sticks were redwood!” Nick pointed at the little doe as he accused her of wrong doing, unable to believe the cheek of this bunny. 

“Why you’re right officer Wilde,” Judy retorted mockingly “red wood; with a space in the middle. 

Wood that is red. 

Figure you’d know a thing or two about that.” 

She placed the chewed on and dried out popsicle stick into Nick’s paw as the fox stood there, fazed and lost for words. The crossing symbol turned green and Judy crossed, leaving the fox behind. “You can’t touch me pelt, I’ve been doing this since I was born.” 

“You’re going to want to refrain from calling me pelt.” A herd of wildebeest swamped them from the other side, and it took Nick some effort to get through the marching forest of legs, while Judy simply took refuge behind a porcupine. 

“My bad I just naturally assumed you came from some 99-cent store choked Podunk, no?” 

“Ugh no, Podunk is in Scentver county and I grew up in Denlands.” 

The rabbit sarcastically laughed and rolled her eyes as she picked some baby carrots from an aloof street vender, Nick aghast at the bunny’s blatant disregard for honesty amongst other things. “Yeah like it makes a difference. Tell me if this story sounds familiar. 

Naïve little cub-scout –because lets face it what else could installed such a sense of and trust in authority into an adorably naïve fox, with big grades and big ideas decides ‘Hey I’m going to move to Zootopia where predators and prey live in harmony and sing kumbaya!’” She turns around to face Nick, walking backwards. 

Only to find, whoops-e, we don’t all get along. 

And that big old dream of becoming a big city cop and proving to his parents that he can make a living out of the den?” She turns back around to face forward. 

“Double whoops-e, he’s a meter maid. Whatever token name they’d give to that. 

And whoops-e number threes-e?” She looks back at Nick, dangling three digits in the air. 

“No one cares about him, or his dream, nor anyone will.” Nick found himself lost, just wandering forward for a few seconds until he realised that Judy turned down a back alley, and quickly heads back to just catch up. 

“Now see, pelt, what happens to those dreams is that they shrivel up and die like the novelty of this city’s slogan, and our fox falls into an emotional and literal squaller where he lives in his own den –a box under a bridge. 

Until he has no choice to head back home with that soft, fizzy-wuzzy tail between his legs to become,” She paused at a gap in a wooden fence and looked back to Nick. “You said you were from Denlands, is that what you said?” 

She stepped atop an overturned milk container so that she was eye to eye with the fox. “Well, how about a tailor?” She jumped off and shruged, leaving Nick through the gap. “That sound about right?”

Determined to get the last word, Nick squeezed himself through the tiny gap, almost getting crushed by a rhino walking home with his groceries. “Be careful now or it won’t be just your dreams getting crushed.” Judy called out. 

“Hey!” Nick ran after her, stopping in front and blocking her path. “No one tells me what I can and can’t do! Especially not some, blockhead, who thought it was a good career choice to spend the rest of her life as a popsicle hustler!”

“Look,” Judy spoke in a soft, dismissive tone like a mother speaking to a disobedient toddler. She gestured for Nick to lean down to her face level, Nick doing so, something in him wanting to hear what the doe had to say. “Everyone comes to Zootopia thinking they can be anything they want. Well you can’t. You can only be what you are.” 

She puts a paw on her chest. “Smart Bunny.” 

She points to Nick. “Naïve Fox.” 

Nick responds back in a vicious tone, with venom dripping from every syllable. “I am not a naïve fox.” He felt so mad that he failed to notice a sinking feeling. 

“Right, and that’s not wet cement.” Nick quickly looked around and was shocked by the fact that, yes, he was standing in wet cement. 

Now with her obstacle out of the way, Judy made her around the fox and continued on her way. “You’ll never be a real cop.” Nick attempted to dislodge himself from the porridge-like substance, but to no avail he remained stuck. “You make a hot meter maid though,” she headed behind a parked car, but poked her head and ears to look at the fox one more time “might be a supervisor one day. Hang in there!” And with that the rabbit was gone, leaving a defeated and deflated Nick alone with frustrated construction workers. 

By the time Nick had gotten home, his ticket quota for the day was a grand total of two hundred and sixty three. The last one was to him; for over-parking a second time. But beating his quota was the last thing on his mind.

His feet and calves were covered in concrete, which spread dust everywhere he stepped. His apartment was just how he had left it, but now it had a cold and unemotional touch to it. His clock told the time as 8:39, and as he placed his phone and keys onto his desk he flicked through its radio, hoping that there was a somewhat-uplifting song on there.

First station; “Every body hurts- DEN wasn’t a big favourite of Nick’s. 

Second station; “All by myself- Eric Carmammal was a pretty good singer in Nick’s opinion. Not the best hope raiser.

Third station; “You can’t do nothing right baby- Nick couldn’t recognise the artist but they certainly didn’t know when to pick a mood. 

Fourth station; “I’M A LOOSSSERR- Nick didn’t need a reason for turning off that one. 

He settled on the slowly moving piano music as he got himself dinner ready. 

The microwave fish should have been enough to feed a sad fox on an empty stomach. That is if the fish didn’t shrivel up in the microwave to such an extent that it wouldn’t feed a stoat. 

He decided to skip dinner. 

Massaging his temples, Nick felt dread wash over him when his phone began to ring, with his parents on the other line. If he kept them waiting for much longer, his mother would burst through the door. So he buried his sadness down deep and threw on a happy face, pressing the green phone icon. 

“Oh hey, its…my parents!” 

“Hey Nicky!” His mother was holding the phone in her paw, with his father sitting just behind her on the sewing machine, tailoring what looked like a brand new suit for a bear of some sort. 

“Hey son, how’s it going?” He asked as he continued to sew.

“Same old same old dad.”

“Well honey, how was your first day?” His mother asked gingerly. She was scared of every possible answer. 

“Oh…it was real great.” Best to go with the middle ground. 

“Yeah, everything you ever hoped?”

“Oh for sure. And more!” 

“Well son,” his father spoke as he turned off the sewing machine and stood next to his wife to be in better view of the camera “I’ve got to say how…proud of you your mother and I are.” 

“Oh guys, please, stop!” ‘Please’ He thought to himself. 

“No I think its something that…your mother and I need to say. I know we weren’t the most…supportive of you doing this at first. Tried to talk you out of it because I was so scared.” His father says with a faint smile. “But, I know, sooner or later, you were moving out, and I’m proud of you Nick for wanting do something like the police.” A smile grew on Nick. 

“Thanks dad.” 

“And don’t forget about your father or I while you’re out changing the world!” His mother enthusiastically exclaimed, her pride beaming and palpable. 

“You know I won’t mom!”

“I know. Well we’ll let you get some shut-eye. Got a big day ahead of you I bet!” 

Nick feigns a laugh “Yep. Big day tomorrow.” 

“Okay son, get some rest now.” His father told him in his intelligent manner. 

“Good night mom and dad.” 

“Good night!” 

“Hey hon, why’s he wearing a v- His father was cut off as the muzzletime ended. 

Exhausted and left alone with his thoughts, Nick leaned back in is chair amidst the tensioning music. From behind his paper-thin walls, his neighbours screamed out “Hey fox turn off that depressing music!” Nick jolted up, scrambling for the ‘off’ button. He rested his head in his paws. 

The other neighbour sprang to Nick’s defence. “Leave the meter-maid alone! He isn’t hurting anyone!”

“Oh shut up!” The other retorted.

“You shut up!” 

They went on at each other for a few minutes. Nick sighed and with some semblance of determination said to himself “Tomorrow is another day.”

“Yeah but it might be worse!” Nick looked back at the wall, a paranoia setting in that his neighbours had bugged his room, or he was partially death and actually spoke a hell of a lot louder than what he thought he did. 

Regardless his first day had ended, and his view of the city, and this job, had shifted very, very rapidly south.

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys like this, leave some feedback, and I'll consider making it into a series.


End file.
